Manta- B&M Flyer for SWO opening May 22

[theRock-steel]

"Does anybody know if that track is going to be inside a building or are they just leaving it open?"
^^Everything that I have seen leads me to believe that the entire ride is going to be outside
(except for the loading station, of course). The aquarium is going to be part of the line at the entrance. Thanks for showing some great pictures.

 

[Lofty]

So the thing about rock tunnels is actualy just gonig to be theming of the queue?

I thought about them not actualy having the track go through a tunnel of some kind with mist effects but then my mind thought hard about it and differed!

 

[theRock-steel]

^ In the video interviews, I heard that the ride will get very close to rock WALLS (with waterfalls).

 

[ECG]

The waterfall view is actually just after the wingtip splash, which is a good bit away and the coaster will not be flying past the waterfall itself. The non-ride queueline will pass right beside the 40ft waterfall as you enter the aquarium, whereas the ride queueline will not. The coaster will however, as theRock states, fly by rock walls. At no point will the coaster go inside a building (aquarium or any other) or a tunnel. It will be an open coaster and the closest it will get to any buildings is on the MCBR (above/between the aquarium & the maintenance building) & final brake run (directly beside the maintenance building).

 

[Antinos]

That's a shame that they didn't add a part of the ride that went through the aquarium. That would have really added to the theme if it went through like a glass tunnel at the bottom of the aquarium on it's back with all the animals overhead.

 

[ECG]

They only want you to get a hint of the ride as you wait in the aquarium queue. You will have three views of the coaster in line, but they will all be through waterfalls & never give you clear site of the coaster. They felt this would increase the anticipation of riding the coaster as you wait in line.
They also want to keep the coaster completely separate from the aquarium for the non-rider side as to not alienate those who just wish to view the Mantas & other animals. If you enter the non-rider portion of the aquarium you will see much more of the aquarium than the queue side, without a single glimpse of the coaster.

 

[bezzzzzer]

I think this coaster is going to be absolutley amazing. Even though the only time I enjoyed myself on Air and Tastu was the pretzel loop of the latter. But this seems to look as if it's going to have an awesome, intense first half, then a more Air, relaxing feel after the MCBR. I think that'll actually be a success as well, with the use of waterfalls and that water effect, it should actually achieve the relaxation factor, and not stray over to boredom like Air does.

My mind is saying but you thought Tastu was going to be good, and that is taller and faster, but this coaster is going to be such an incredible experience. By the sounds of things, even if this coaster was be as dull as Air, all this theme would still make the coaster worth riding. But I'm loving the twists and turns of the track. It just makes you think all that was said about giving riders the sensation of how a manta glides was actually considered quite heavily to come up with this extremely flowful layout.

 

[jokerman]

^That's the way things work in Orlando though, isn't it?

 

[bezzzzzer]

Well, I'm not sure if a Manta has ever been observed doing a pretzel loop in the wild, but your point is well taken :wink:

Ha!

Well SeaWorld are currently training all their manta rays to actually glide through pretzel loop manuvours. So when guests are all queueing up in the aquarium they'll go, "Wow, I never did realise manta rays swam like that. I'm gonna feel like a manta ray Mom!"

As you can imagine, I was really focussing on the section in between the preztel and the MCBR. I just know those brakes are going to kill the speed, but I'm just still praying away.

 

[CMonster]

UC said:
Quote: Well, I'm not sure if a Manta has ever been observed doing a pretzel loop in the wild, but your point is well taken :wink:

You've never seen one do that?

 

[ECG]

A great deal of thinking went into controlling every aspect of the splash. They want the coaster to be fully interactive with it's surroundings and allowing everyone who wishes to be splashed on that portion of the pathway was a major undertaking to get it just right. In addition to a computer simulation, they were able to do a full mock-up to determine the exact speed necessary to get the desired effect (the direction, the velocity, how high, far & how much of the pathway will be sprayed). Being able to get the perfect view of the 40ft waterfall following the splash was also a determining factor in how much the train would need to be slowed down in the MCBR, as the splash will also act as a natural brake.
So I don't think that the MCBR will 'kill the speed' as the train will still need quite a bit of speed to make it to the final brake run.

 

[Slash]

^ I think they would have used computer software to recreate the desired effect, but you honestly never know with these things. If they did, thats pretty sweet.

 

[ECG]

What I was trying to say is that in addition to the computer software simulation of the splash, they actually built a mock-up. I couldn't believe I heard Brian correctly when he said they built a mock-up and therefore asked him specifically if he meant a scale model. He would only say that it was large scale in order to test the splash, but did not give the specific size. I imagine it would have to be quite large to be able to get a true 'splash' as he was quite specific in his description of the splash having to be just right (correct angle, not to misty, etc.).
Manta is going to be the company's flagship coaster in their flagship park and I can't begin to tell you how much consideration went into the design to make every aspect of the coaster perfect, but he also said that they left the implementation of the design up to B&M because of their close relationship with the company and the quality of their coasters.

 

[Mike T]

Remember that SheiKra was also tested in the same way - where the splash was developed at full scale in Europe. So it's definitely not the first time something like that has been done - but it does seem to be a trendy thing for the Busch folks to do lol.

 

[ECG]

Now, um, which company is this we're talking about?

Sorry, didn't mean to be confusing. I was talking about Busch Entertainment Corporation, not Bolliger & Mabillard.

As far as I know, that little detail is still very much up in the air...

Which little detail?
Nick said that Manta will be their flagship coaster & SWO is the company's flagship park, so I'm not sure which little detail is very much up in the air.

 

[ECG]

^ZOOM - Right over my head... :lol:

 

[Antinos]

It's alright Jerry, it was tricky. I almost missed it myself.

Johnny upsidedown posted another update. They've completed most of the mid course brakes. All they have left to do is the wing dip section, flat spin, and the turn into the brakes. They sure are hauling on this. Here's the link:

http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/manta0.html

The mid course brakes look very low, but it's already been discussed why...

Looking at this(http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/manta/sw476a.jpg) picture confuses me on how those small supports are put into the ground. Are they just stuck in the footer and bolted down? It looks like they have spots in which to do that.

 

[Antinos]

You're right about it being long. That is kind of strange.

What I mean about the supports is that about a third of the support is the rusty brown and it looks like the connections are where the blue paint ends. I've never seen supports for a B&M like this before.

 

[Snoo]

Look at the smaller one in the ground already Steve.. it looks like they are put into holes instead of bolted to the footer.

You seem to be right about that Marc.. I've never seen that before..

 

[Anonymous]

After they have put those supports in their holes they fill the gap around them with concrete.

My guess why they use these kinds are that they will be stronger due to that there will be a bending force applied to them as the train speeds by, and normal bolt downs cant cope with that kind of load.

And they have been used before, example's Black Mamba (on the corkscrew) or Nemesis. But they are usually used on heavily themed coasters that are close to the ground.